Well, this is interesting. As some rumours already suggested, Google and Verizon have released a joint proposal for a legislative framework regarding net neutrality. This being Google and all, some of you may expect this to be all flower-farting unicorns darting across rainbows, but sadly, that's not the case. This proposal? Well, it's not good.

Shooting for a legal solution to net neutrality is going to end in tears. It will be (like most exercises in political economy) a tool for the best connected firms to get the laws written in their favor, raising barriers to entry and restricting competition. The beauty is it won't just be difficult to compete, it will be illegal.

If there is one thing that is likely to truly bring about the draconian restrictions on the Internet that people are fearing, it will be whatever law we end up with on the far side of this net neutrality crusade.

This is bit off the main point, so I didn't want to place it in the above.

There are several problems with allowing certain market participants to decide what rules everyone else must follow. Specifically, the wired providers know best the limitations and costs that they face, just as the wireless people understand their own limitations and costs.

How great do you think this is going to end if the wired providers all decide what rules the wireless guys have to follow, and the wireless ones what the wired must follow?

They each understand each others' business a bit, but not as well as they understand their own. They would make poor decisions even with the best of intentions.

And one can never get away from the tremendous temptation to act in bad faith, and use the law to pile burdens on your competitors, crafting it to accentuate your strengths and exploit their weaknesses.

And what can they do? It's the law. Only thing left is for the losers to gain (*cough* buy *cough*) more influence, and get the law changed in their favor.

It isn't all adversarial though. There is always a common ground where even the staunchest competitors will agree: to keep out any new players. They may not like each other, but all the big boys can always agree on one thing at least, that nobody else should get a chance to play in the game.

That does exemplify part of the problem. The US gov has grown into a political monster. It used to be of the people, for the people, by the people. It has become of the contractor, for the contractor, by the contractor. I'm an outsider though so take a US citizen's word for it. Robert Steele is a heck of a smart guy and after a long career in intelligence and politics, I'll listen to what he has to say.